1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a system for performing an online payment transaction and, more specifically, to a system and method for automatically filling webpage fields.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is known, several methods of payment for goods or services exist today, including cash, check, credit card, and debit card. Some of the most popular methods of payment include payment by credit card and by debit card. When credit/debit cards were first introduced, there was no concept of online payments, online banking, or payments via mobile phone. Today, these forms of payment are also very common.
As is known, a credit card system is one where an issuer, usually a financial institution, issues a credit card to a customer. The customer may then pay for goods or services using the credit card. Essentially, the issuer is lending money to the customer to pay for the good or services.
Another common form of payment is using a debit card. Using a debit card is functionally similar to writing a check, as the funds are withdrawn from the bank account of the customer. A transaction using a debit card may be a “signature debit” transaction or a “PIN debit” transaction. When using either form of debit transaction at a physical merchant location, the customer may swipe or insert the debit card into a terminal, or the customer may hand the debit card to the cashier who will do so. A signature debit transaction is authenticated much like a credit card transaction with the customer signing a receipt to verify their identity. A PIN debit transaction, on the other hand, is authenticated when the customer enters a correct personal identification number (PIN) into the terminal.
A signature debit transaction may also be initiated on the Internet. For example, the buyer may type a debit card number into the appropriate payment fields on an online merchant payment webpage to pay for the goods or services provided by the online merchant. To the online merchant, a signature debit transaction is processed similarly to a credit card transaction.
However, one problem with paying for goods or services online is that the user must manually type all of the information for the payment product into the online payment page, including the card number, PIN, expiration date, and/or card verification value (“CVV”), among others. Entering all of this information for each online payment transaction is tedious and error-prone.
As the foregoing illustrates, there is a need in the art for a technique that overcomes the limitations of prior art approaches to online payment.